Alrighty, so im looking at buying an E36 M3. So far I've been only considering the OBDII 3.2L engines because of the extra torque and have had little luck finding any in good condition locally, and the ones I have found have been sold already. I've come upon 2 really nice 1995 3.0L engines with the OBDI and such, but is it really worth it? Should I continue my wait for the 3.2s?

e30e

08-30-2008, 11:27 PM

3 years ago, everyone was ALL about the s50 because it was so easy to tune. Today honestly it does not make a difference. There is a lot specific stuff about the 95 m3 than can be good or bad depending on what part your buying. They offered the s52 in the e36 m3 for 3 years so you have a lot more choice's on paper. I like OBD-II because I like to get a nice little check engine light when something is starting to go bad rather than the obd-I **** breaks and now your screwed so you have to do the stomp test method. The s50 is more of a race motor in terms of drive-ability with its peakier redline over the s52 because the s52 has more low grunt making it better for DD, but 0-60 and quarter mile times are not significant. I like the s52 e36's because the kidneys look better, you get better wheels, you get traction control and they tended to fix some of the little early e36 problems. Now you plan to go boost, I think you save maybe a grand or two by going with the s50 and a some headaches but other-wise I say go for the best deal you can find because either way your doing a lot of maintenance on a 10+ year old car.

Jmannumber7

08-30-2008, 11:43 PM

Thanks for the info, very well said :thumbup: .

Pinecone

09-02-2008, 06:45 PM

OBD 1 makes the most power gain with the bolt on stuff. CAI, MAF, Headers, chip. Cams add a bit on top.

OBD II requires the cams to really maker power. Limited power gains with the bolt on.

If you do the whole package, they are comparable.

1995 cars has 3.15 diff ratio. 96 and later are 3.23.

robzoe

09-12-2008, 05:47 AM

You guys are talking about the S50 US version. I am familier with the engine as much to say it is a de-tuned single throttle body version of the S50B30 & S50B32 which is the hand built engine. Not being familiar with the US engine I cannot quote from experience how it performs only to say that it is quoted as being 60 BHP down on the German Euro version. The word has it by collectors and enthusiast here that there is little difference between the 2 in Euro versions. The 3.2 does have slightly more bottom end, as it should do with the longer stroke and exhaust vanos. Above 4500 to 6500 rpm they are pretty much on par but from 6500 the 3.0 revs sweater and harder. You should experience the song these engines put out at 7500 - 8000 rpm, the shunt in the back is something else! Smooth like a turbine and not peaky at all just urgent and constant

The BMW club I belong to has a variety of E36 & E46 Euro M3 cars. We hold regular dyno days and outings. Plenty of open space for our club runs too! All of the 3.0 Litre cars always crack 221-223 KW at the rear, which is only 10-12 short of the 3.2. and some 10-12 higher than factory claims. Some of the members even put em on the 1/4 mile, times of 13 sec flat are not uncommon. If you get just the right atmospheric conditions, the 3.0 will reduce its 0-60 time by as much as 0.7 secs, that puts it just as quick as the 3.2 for the same conditions.

If I was living in the US and I had the choice, I would either cross the border into Canada and try and buy a Euro E36 or i would go for the E46 which in US version is not de-tuned and strangled.

Bruce

09-12-2008, 06:26 AM

You guys are talking about the S50 US version. I am familier with the engine as much to say it is a de-tuned single throttle body version of the S50B30 & S50B32 which is the hand built engine. Not being familiar with the US engine I cannot quote from experience how it performs only to say that it is quoted as being 60 BHP down on the German Euro version. The word has it by collectors and enthusiast here that there is little difference between the 2 in Euro versions. The 3.2 does have slightly more bottom end, as it should do with the longer stroke and exhaust vanos. Above 4500 to 6500 rpm they are pretty much on par but from 6500 the 3.0 revs sweater and harder. You should experience the song these engines put out at 7500 - 8000 rpm, the shunt in the back is something else! Smooth like a turbine and not peaky at all just urgent and constant

The BMW club I belong to has a variety of E36 & E46 Euro M3 cars. We hold regular dyno days and outings. Plenty of open space for our club runs too! All of the 3.0 Litre cars always crack 221-223 KW at the rear, which is only 10-12 short of the 3.2. and some 10-12 higher than factory claims. Some of the members even put em on the 1/4 mile, times of 13 sec flat are not uncommon. If you get just the right atmospheric conditions, the 3.0 will reduce its 0-60 time by as much as 0.7 secs, that puts it just as quick as the 3.2 for the same conditions.

If I was living in the US and I had the choice, I would either cross the border into Canada and try and buy a Euro E36 or i would go for the E46 which in US version is not de-tuned and strangled.

The US motor is not a single throttle version of the Euro motor...it is a bored out version of the M50/M52...some people even refer to them as M50 B50 and M52 B32.

There were only 45 Euro 3L cars imported to Canada (for model year 94), all other E36 M3s in Canada have US spec motors.

robzoe

09-16-2008, 09:39 AM

The US motor is not a single throttle version of the Euro motor...it is a bored out version of the M50/M52...some people even refer to them as M50 B50 and M52 B32.

There were only 45 Euro 3L cars imported to Canada (for model year 94), all other E36 M3s in Canada have US spec motors

Hi Bruce

Thanks for the correction, I was not sure of the engine block designation and was to lazy to research it on the Web. Correct me if I am wrong, again, The M50/52 is the the same family of engine as the 2.8/3.0? That would make sense as I have read in quite a few US columns that you have to be careful not to give them to big a rev.

We never saw the earlier US variants, only the German made/imported models, exactly the same as you would get from a dealer in Munich. We continue to get the fully imported M class, 6 series, 7 series and Cabrolets. All of the others for our market to my recollection, are made in other places not Germany. We also get the Alpina's and other German tuner derivatives as well as the factory R and GT versions, though the latter is very rare and I recollect Jim Richards raced a couple of them with great success.

You guys did recieve a few of the real McCoy E30 M3's I believe.

Bruce

09-16-2008, 10:09 AM

Thanks for the correction, I was not sure of the engine block designation and was to lazy to research it on the Web. Correct me if I am wrong, again, The M50/52 is the the same family of engine as the 2.8/3.0? That would make sense as I have read in quite a few US columns that you have to be careful not to give them to big a rev.

M50/52/54 motors are all basically the same (54s have double vanos) and have displacements that range from 2L (I think the small I6 320i was an M50 motor but we didn't get that in the US) to 3.2L (2.0/2.3/2.5/2.8/3.0/3.2). Overreving one of these motors is bad (search "money shift").

We never saw the earlier US variants, only the German made/imported models, exactly the same as you would get from a dealer in Munich. We continue to get the fully imported M class, 6 series, 7 series and Cabrolets. All of the others for our market to my recollection, are made in other places not Germany. We also get the Alpina's and other German tuner derivatives as well as the factory R and GT versions, though the latter is very rare and I recollect Jim Richards raced a couple of them with great success.

You guys did recieve a few of the real McCoy E30 M3's I believe.

You guys Down Under got all the cool models (and then some). I think the E36 M3 Rs were only available in Australia.

Yes, the US did receive the real E30 M3s, but they were only 2.3L cat version (192hp). We didn't get any Evo or special editions. Just under 5k of them were imported to the US in 4 years.